Lane Tech, Young reach city title game

Bill Jauss, Tribune staff reporterCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Defending Public League champion Lane Tech beat Clemente 7-1 Friday night at UIC after pitcher Adam Nusret talked his coach Jeff Szukula out of removing him at a key moment in the city playoff semifinal.

Szukula went to the mound in the last half of the fifth inning with his mind made up to replace Nusret, a 6-foot-3-inch, 175-pound junior right-hander.

"We led 5-1, but they had the bases loaded, and Jason Arroyo was coming to bat," Szukula said.

Arroyo had homered off Nusret his first time up.

"I was going to take out Adam," Skukula said. "But first I asked him a question: `Do you want to take this batter?' It wasn't just his answer that made me leave him in. It was his tone of voice. I can't repeat what he said. But he was emphatic."

Nusret struck out Arroyo and Anthony Gonzalez to escape without allowing a run.

Lane (27-8) presented Nusret with a 4-0 lead before he threw his first pitch. Sophomore Pete Slowik keyed a four-run first against Clemente (24-15) when he drove home two runs with a double to right.

"I went up looking for a first-pitch fastball, and that's what he threw me," Slowik said.

Nusret said the quick lead boosted his confidence:

"I've been getting security from my hitters most of the season. Tonight we felt we had to score early, because if we hit 'em quick, Clemente might quit. The early lead made my job easier."

Arroyo's second-inning homer was the only run Nusret allowed in six innings. He gave up six hits and two walks.

Lane expanded its lead to 5-1 on Dorian Madrid's RBI groundout in the fifth inning and put together successive singles by Justin Lezon, Oscar Ibarra, Alexis Hernandez and Joe Perez in a two-run sixth.

In Young's victory, Planthaber struck out four, walked two and retired 13 in a row between the second and sixth innings.